The images of the Macondo Well site were recorded earlier this month, when a rover was sent to the sea floor to check on the cap installed more than two years ago. The mission was ordered after an oil sheen in the area prompted questions about the stability of the cap and relief wells.

Officials have determined the plug is holding firm and there is no leak.

"No apparent source of the surface sheen has been discovered by this effort," Capt. Duke Walker said after reviewing the material. "Next steps are being considered as we await the lab results of the surface and subsurface samples and more detailed analysis of the video shot during the mission."

One of the recordings shows an inscription on part of the capping device. It reads: “In memory of the Deep Water Horizon 11” – a reference to the 11 rig workers who died in the explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon in April 2010.

Another shows the extensive field of wreckage from the collapsed drilling platform. The Deepwater Horizon sank to the Gulf floor after an intense fire raged two days after it was rocked by the initial blast.